What’s So Great About Instagram Stories?
First we got Instagram Stories, and now we have Story Highlights. This is fantastic news for anyone who cares about making a good first impression and staying connected with followers. Story Highlights are especially stellar for those of us who share content on several key themes, seasonal topics, or have other big variables in the content of posts. With Story Highlights, you can spell out what you’re all about. Think of it like a demo reel of stuff you love.
Stories appear across the top of your Instagram image feed.
If you’re already savvy about stories, skip down to the skinny on how to make sure your Story Highlights section goes to eleven.
Here’s a quick introduction to Instagram Stories:
- Instagram Stories are posts that appear in a row of little circles across the very top of your IG newsfeed.
- Stories are meant to be ephemeral (similar to Snapchat) and each one is visible for only 24hrs.
- A story can be a photo, live video, a text graphic, or one of several other playful formats.
- Stories appear across the top of each user’s newsfeed, and are set to autoplay in sequence.
- Stories appear in chronological order! That means stories are currently the BEST to stay top-of-mind with your followers.
- You can add hashtags, location, filters and effects to your story posts.
- Stories are built for a more casual, off-the-cuff vibe, and offer fun extras like animated gifs and Snapchat-ish live filters.
- If Stories are new to you, start by watching them. Get familiar with them, see what resonates with you.
Once you’ve got a feel for Stories, we’re sure you’ll be hooked. At the time of this post’s publication, Instagram’s regular newsfeed is sequenced by an algorithm, and there’s no way to get around that. But IG Stories appear in chronological order, and that fact alone is a compelling reason to make use of them. There are SO many good ways to use Instagram Stories. Find what works for you.
Stories – The hottest thing since a good cup of tea.
Get Maximum Lift From Your Story Highlights
So you’re feeling good about posting Stories on Instagram, and now you’re thinking about Story Highlights. This feature rolled out in June of 2018, and people have been finding SO many smart, creative ways to make use of Highlights.
- Tease a new post or major announcement.
- Showcase your best work by category/topic/theme.
- Put your core values front and centre for new followers.
- Highlight accomplishments, favourite moments, and testimonials
- Compile your very best tips, tricks of the trade, and behind-the-scenes shots.
- Build a timeline of progress in a long term project.
Remember Highlights are exactly that – HIGHLIGHTS.
Consider Story Highlights to be your elevator pitch or demo reel. It is NOT your CV or autobiographic novel. This is often the first thing people view when they find your account. Don’t overwhelm new friends. Stories are built to be fleeting! They might be fun, sincere, timely, or your latest bit of news. But most Stories should vanish into the aether after 24 hours. If you want it to last longer, make it a post. Curate your Highlights to include the most essential, vital, and engaging content you create.
Are you ready to create some Highlight-worthy Stories? You can start with anything you want, but we’ve created a super simple template as an easy starting point. It’s 1080×1920 pixels, the exact dimensions that stories need to be (as of today). Save it, load it into your favourite image editing app, and start playing with colours and graphics to create stand-out Stories for your Instagram account. CLICK HERE to open the image in a new window, and then right-click (or long-press on your mobile device) to save the image.
How do YOU use Story Highlights? What do you like best about them? With so many possibilities, we can’t wait to see how bright these Highlights shine.